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We had to put aside beautiful scenes like this
seen in Culpepper Lagoon...
and make our way through some stormy waters
trying to get to Fury Cove in the next three
days.
As we left Kynoch Inlet to head south, we were
hit by a sudden squall and had to turn north
again. We had to backtrack for 10 miles and head
towards Sheeps Passage (again). We anchored -
appropriately enough - in Windy Bay.
We were willing to put in long hours for the
next two days; and we did. We went all the way
from Windy Bay, through the Bella Bella/Shearwater
area, to Fancy Cove in Lama Passage that second
day. We haven't anchored in Fancy Cove since
2001 so it was definitely time to re-visit. And
it was the best location for our take-off the
next day. I like the pretty little island just
outside the nook at the head where we prefer
to anchor. Not much swinging room, but shallow
and good holding and very protected. And such
a wonderful view.
The next day we
pushed all the way to our goal. It was a tough
day with 3 foot squared-off seas that yanked
the skiff around. But Dave's new rigging held
fine. This was our destination: Fury Cove on
Penrose Island.
It's a jewel of
a spot. It looks out onto Queen Charlotte Sound
so you can see the weather as well as hear
about it.
When we listened
to the weather the next morning at o-dark-thirty,
the West Sea Otter buoy was reporting 4 K west
winds and westerly sea swells of 1.8 meters
(six feet) with a light chop on top. YES. It's
a go. Six foot swells certainly sound like
a big deal, but we believe that as long as
the wave action on top of it is minimal, it's
actually quite doable. We don't have stabilizers,
so I'm not downplaying the issue; we don't
go if it's too rough at the start and the forecast
is bad. But this was an OK start situation
for us and the forecast was for things to get
better as the day went along.
This is Egg Island. Those are 4 foot swells with
a light chop on top that you're looking at. A
bit hard to see.
This series of photos
should create a better picture for you. That's
the Cape Caution marker in the background.
(We elected to go past it at about a half mile
out.) See the sailboat heading northbound?
Now look at it...
Where'd she go?
But you can see that the chop on top is light.
It never got higher than about a foot all day.
The swells were there most of the day, but the
angle was good and the sun started to shine!
Even this barge was putting on a show.
Down she goes.
By the time we got
to the Deserters Islands area, it was piece-of-cake
time. Bait ball! No, Dave, we can't stop and
go fishing. I can taste the dock at Pt McNeill.
He loves to complain
about all my techy things on the boat, but
he also loves to use them. Here he is doing
Sirius radio with the headphones, wearing his
Bolle's. The blurred hand is his effort to
block this picture. Nah nah.
We managed to get
to Pt McNeill just in time to get the next-to-the-last
dock space. When I had a chance to look up,
I was delighted to see the M/V Spirit of Balto
just across the way. I know Sally through an
organization called Northwest Women in Boating.
Sally and Dan built this custom steel trawler
and there is a fascinating story behind the
name. Yes, it's related to the Iditarod dog,
Balto, who helped save lives - and Dan is from
Nome, Alaska and a third generation gold miner.
The couple and the
boat were written up in Passagemaker magazine
(Oct 15, 2007 issue). They said a friend who
also built a custom boat gave them a piece
of advice not long ago: "You need to leave
the dock." And so they have, traveling up
the Inside Passage.
It's August 26 and we're glad to be in Pt McNeill
- a real cruiser-friendly location. From here
we're going to go play in the Broughton Islands
for awhile and make it to our first pig roast
at the newly configured "Pierre's at Echo
Bay." Stay tuned.
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